In May 2002, the First Presidency of the Community of Christ appointed a twelve-member task force to give attention to the significant theological issues facing the church. The task force’s first statement, “Scripture in the Community of Christ” was published in June 2003. It dealt generally with the issue of the use of scripture in the church without addressing the group’s specific concerns regarding the denomination’s continued use of the Inspired Version, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. In the nearly two years that followed, the task force struggled to compose a statement on these issues, and in March 2005, the group agreed that it had reached an impasse and decided to move on to the task of formulating a denominational Christology. In this presentation, task force member Andrew Shelton will speak about the conclusions the task force has reached regarding Restoration scripture, and preview the group’s coming work on Christology, which he hopes will eventually help the denomination better address the issue of scripture.

Andrew Shelton